Manually actuated ball mixing and dispensing device

ABSTRACT

A ball dispensing device comprising a ball mixing and retaining cup rotatably disposed on a base member in spaced relation thereto. Said cup having an aperture through the closed top thereof for adding indicia marked balls thereto and at least one manually actuated spring loaded ball dispensing plunger extending into said cup for dispensing balls therefrom onto said base member through deformable ball supports supporting balls on ball dispensing apertures in the bottom of said cup.

United States Patent 1191 Dabrowski 1451 Dec. 24, 1974 [5 MANUALLY ACTUATED BALL MIXING 671,125 2/1939 Germany 273/144 A AND DISPENSING DEVICE 722,014 l/l955 Great Britain 273/144 B 1 1,226,969 3/1971 01661 Britain; 273/144-13 [76] Inventor: Stanley F. Dabrowski, 315 Arcadia Blvd., Springfield, Mass. 01118 [22] Filed; May 1974 Primary Examiner-Ant0n O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner Arnold W. Kramer PP 4701955 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Chapin, Neal and Dempsey [52] US. Cl 273/144 A [51] Int; Cl. A63! 7/10 [58] Field of Search 273/144 R, 144 A, 144 B, ABSTRACT 273/138 R, 138 A, 139 A ball dispensing device comprising a ball mixing and [56] References Cited retaining cup rotatably disposed on a base member in UNITED STATES PATENTS spaced relation thereto. Said cup having an aperture 941E488 11/1909 Beckley 273/144 A through the closed top thereof for adding indicia 1 486 690 3,1924 273/144 A marked balls thereto and at least one manually actul:562:l97 11/1925 Andrew 273/144 A ated Spring loaded ball dispensing Plunger extending 2,003,979 6/1935 Skoric 273 144 A into said p f disp nsing balls therefrom onto said 2,061,135 11/1936 Bissiriet al. 273/144 A base member through deformable ball supports sup- 2,721,083 10/1955 Allain 273/144 A porting balls on ball dispensing apertures in the bot- 3,534,964 10 1970 011111 273/144 A tom of said cup FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 631,792 6/1936 Germany 273/144 A 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 5 g 36 fi BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ball dispensing device, particularly, it relates to a plunger operated ball dispenser which may be used to play a variety of games of the type where a random selection of colored or numbered balls is required.

It is an object of this invention to provide a ball dispensing device which will provide for the random selection of balls to be used in a game.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ball dispensing device which may be manufactured using k'nown plastic molding techniques.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro 1 vide a ball dispensing device which is simply constructed, yet sturdy.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention'will become apparent in view of the following description and the appended drawings, in

-' which:

FIG. '1 is an elevation view of the ball dispensing device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section view takenalong the line 2-2 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1; and

Referring first to the base 12 it will be seen, primarily in FIG. 1, that it comprises a circular bottom member 16 and a vertical post 18 positioned in the middle of said bottom member 16. As'further noted, the underside 20 of the bottom member 16 is flat, while the top surface 22 of the bottom member 16 is inclined radially from its Center from the vertical post 18 to its periphery. The purpose of this inclined surface will be explained below. Finally, the base 12 is provided with a lip 24 about its periphery which extends above the edge of the top surface 22.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ball retaining cup 14 is an enclosed cup comprising a top orcover and bottom member or surface 26 and 28, respectively, and an upstanding side wall 30. As shown, the bottom member 28 is'provided with a concave portion 32 adapted to receive the vertical post 18 of the base 12. The relationship between the depth of the concave portion 32 and the post 18 is such that the cup 14 and the base 12 are held in spaced relation so-as to enable the balls 33, such as marbles or the like, to roll freely on the top surface 22 of the base 12.

As further shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a plurality of apertures 34 adapted for receiving plunger means 36 are disposed in the top 26 of the cup 14 along with a ball feeding aperture 38. Similarly, ball dispensing apertures 40' corresponding vto and in line with said plunger apertures 34 are provided in the bottom 28 of said cup 14. Said dispensing apertures 40 are provided with deformable ball retaining means 42, such as rubber flaps or the like, which are slit so as to provide generally triangular shaped portions 44. Such deformable coverings 42 are sufficiently ridged so as to prevent the 2 balls 33 from passing through said dispensing apertures .40 unless forced therethrough as to be described below.

As best seen in FIGS. 1, and 4, the plunger means i 36. comprises a spring cartridge 46 threadably engaged at its uppermost end with plunger apertures 34. As shown, the barrel 47 of the cartridge 46 depends into the interior of the cup 14. A spring 48 is disposed within the barrel 47 and held therein by cap 50. A plunger rod 52 is slidably disposed in the barrel 47 with the ends thereof extending beyond the ends of the cartridge 46. The rod 52 is biased upwardly by spring 48 which is held in compression between pin 54 affixed to said rod 52 and the cap 50. The uppermost end of the rod 52 is provided with a head 55 or the like to facilitate actuation of the plunger means 36, while the lower end of the rod is provided with a dispensing member 56 for urging balls 33 out of the retaining cup 14 through ball dispensing apertures 40. As shown, each dispensing member 56 is spaced above its corresponding dispensing aperture a distance greater than the diameter of the balls33.

OPERATION The operation and use of the ball dispensing device of this invention is relatively simple. First, aplurality of indicia marked ball 33, i.e. different colored or numbered balls, are put into the retaining cup 14 through ball feeding aperture 38. The cup 14 may then be rotated on the post 18 to thoroughly mix up the added balls. Once all the balls 33 to be used are in the cup, they can be dispensed therefrom in a random fashion, one at a time, through any of the ball dispensing apertures 40 via the action of any one of the plunger means 36. This dispensing action is accomplished by merely depressing any one of the plunger rods 52 against the bias of spring 48 so as to bring the dispensing member 56 into contact with a ball 33 which is in position directly below said dispensing member 56. The pushing action of the plunger rod 52 against the ball 33 will overcome the resistance of the deformable coverings 42 associated with each ball dispensing aperture 40 so that a ball 33 will fall to the top surface 22 of the base 12 and roll to the outside edge thereof where it can be removed and used in a game. It is to be noted that only one ball 33 at a time will be dispensed through an aper ture 40 as the design of the dispenser member 52 precludes multiple ball dispensing action.

As will be clear to those having ordinary skill in the art, the ball dispensing device of the present invention lends itself to plastic molding techniques with regard to manufacture. As such is the case, various molding techniques may somewhat vary the design of the device. For example, as shown, the ball retaining cup 14 is of one piece construction. However, as should be obvious, the top 26 thereof could, if desirable, be molded separately and affixed to the cup 14 by various means.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for mixing and dispensing indicia marked balls comprising a base member, a vertical post disposed in the middle of said base member, a covered ball retaining cup rotatably supported above said base member in spaced relation thereto on said vertical post,

.said cup having a ball feeding aperture in the cover actuated plunger means in said cup aligned with each said ball dispensing aperture and normally biased above said aperture a distance greater than the diameter of said balls for urging a ball from said cup past said deformable ball retaining means onto said base member.

2. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said 7 ased upwardly by said spring.

4. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said ball retaining means comprises deformable coverings having slits therein.

5. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said base member has a top surface which is inclined radially downwardly from its center to its periphery.

6. A device for mixing and dispensing indicia marked balls comprising a base member, a vertical post disposed in the middle of said base member, a covered ball retaining cup rotatably supported above said base member in spaced relation thereto on said vertical post, said cup having a ball feeding aperturein the cover thereof and a plurality of ball dispensing apertures in the bottom thereof, deformable ball retaining means covering each of said ball dispensing apertures, and a manually actuated plunger aligned with each of said ball dispensing apertures and normally spring biased above said aperture a distance greater than the diameter of said balls for urging a ball from said cup past said deformable ball retaining means and onto said base member.

cover of said cup. 

1. A device for mixing and dispensing indicia marked balls comprising a base member, a vertical post disposed in the middle of said base member, a covered ball retaining cup rotatably supported above said base member in spaced relation thereto on said vertical post, said cup having a ball feeding aperture in the cover thereof and at least one ball dispensing aperture in the bottom thereof, deformable ball retaining means covering each said ball dispensing aperture, and a manually actuated plunger means in said cup aligned with each said ball dispensing aperture and normally biased above said aperture a distance greater than the diameter of said balls for urging a ball from said cup past said dEformable ball retaining means onto said base member.
 2. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said cup has a concave portion in the bottom thereof for rotatables receiving the vertical post of said base member.
 3. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein each said plunger means comprises a cartridge having one end thereof affixed to the cover of said cup and the other end thereof disposed in said cup, a spring disposed within said cartridge, and a plunger rod slidingly disposed in said cartridge, said rod having its ends extending beyond the ends of said cartridge and being biased upwardly by said spring.
 4. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said ball retaining means comprises deformable coverings having slits therein.
 5. The ball dispensing device of claim 1 wherein said base member has a top surface which is inclined radially downwardly from its center to its periphery.
 6. A device for mixing and dispensing indicia marked balls comprising a base member, a vertical post disposed in the middle of said base member, a covered ball retaining cup rotatably supported above said base member in spaced relation thereto on said vertical post, said cup having a ball feeding aperture in the cover thereof and a plurality of ball dispensing apertures in the bottom thereof, deformable ball retaining means covering each of said ball dispensing apertures, and a manually actuated plunger aligned with each of said ball dispensing apertures and normally spring biased above said aperture a distance greater than the diameter of said balls for urging a ball from said cup past said deformable ball retaining means and onto said base member.
 7. The ball dispensing device of claim 6 wherein said spring biased plungers are removably affixed to the cover of said cup. 